The Arab Emirates online community defended their country after the well-known Forbes magazine ranked it as an “unfriendly expatriate” state. The rating was compiled based on a survey of the HSBC banking group among more than 3 thousand expatriates in 100 countries around the world regarding their financial situation, quality of life and parenting abroad.
Forbes columnist Beth Greenfield developed a formula that helped determine the degree of hostility of countries. “Forbes gathered results in four categories: the ability to make friends with the locals, success in learning the local language, the ability to integrate into the local community, and the degree of comfort in the new culture,” writes Beth Greenfield. “According to this formula, the most unfriendly country is to the expatriates are the United Arab Emirates. "
This material provoked a protest from users of the social network Twitter, who created the #UAEFriendly topic for discussion. Georgia Ungania, a resident of Dubai, writes: "I have traveled all over the world, and the United Arab Emirates is perhaps the most tolerant country I have ever been to. Forbes, review your rating." Hawl Al Marri, an artist from Dubai, said: “Why worry about the Forbes rating? Dubai was criticized by many foreign publications some time ago, but we all know that it remains at its best.” Fergus Clark, an expatriate from Abu Dhabi, said: "I was warmly welcomed and received by all the people of the United Arab Emirates, regardless of their origin."
Twitter user SafyaAIM noted that Forbes lost credibility after this article, and Buckeyejeans wrote: “This is what my weekend looks like ... expatriates and locals spend time together. No one asked me or my friends” . Another user, Shaima Al Sayyed, a teacher of the local Arabic dialect for foreigners in Dubai, explained why she used the #UAEFriendly theme to defend her country. "I was very surprised that the United Arab Emirates recognized as an unfriendly country, even shocked. I have never been a big fan of statistics or reviews, because I am sure that they distort reality. Sometimes people who do not know anything are asked about them, and if you ask a group of such people, you’ll get a general wrong opinion, "she said." I talk a lot with foreigners, and everyone tells me why he likes this city. "
Miss Greenfield herself called New Zealand, Australia and South Africa the most friendly countries. The hardest thing for expatriates is to live in states such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Russia, and India. She clarified that her opinion may not coincide with the opinion of the publisher.
